Donald Trump on Homeland Security

2000 Reform Primary Challenger for President

American interests come first; no apologies

I believe that any credible American foreign policy doctrine should be defined by at least seven core principles:

American interests come first. Always. No apologies.

Maximum firepower and military preparedness.

Only go to war to win.

Stay loyal to your friends and suspicious of your enemies.

Keep the technological sword razor sharp.

See the unseen. Prepare for threats before they materialize.

Respect and support our present and past warriors.

Source: Time to Get Tough, by Donald Trump, p. 87
, Dec 5, 2011

All freedoms flow from national security

Obama's recent decision to gut the U.S. military by cutting $400 billion from our defense budget, a figure more than double what then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates identified as being prudent.
Now here's Obama, a guy who never met a spending bill h doesn't love. But when it comes to funding our troops and giving them the equipment, training, and support they need,
Obama is MIA.

The reason conservatives support a strong and well-funded military is because they know that all freedoms flow from national security. That's why we need a new president.
It's also why we need to get tough in foreign policy to deal with the threats and challenges America faces from rival and enemy nations.

3% of GNP for military is too low

To tell the enemy we’re not going to invade defies common sense. That lack of confidence may reflect another troubling reality: our diminished military forces. To wage our aerial assault on Yugoslavia we had to call upon US forces from all points of the
globe. Why? Because we’re spread too thin. The US last year spent 3% of gross domestic product maintaining our military forces. Compare that with past figures: Defense spending in the last year of the Carter administration came to 4.9% of GDP. During
the Reagan buildup it was 6.5%. We are still living off the Reagan military buildup of nearly 20 years ago. The question is: What will we live off ten or fifteen years from now if we do not invest again?

You can’t pursue forward military and
foreign-policy objectives on a backward military budget. I’m not advocating that America go forth and police the world. I’m just saying that if we’re going to use our military power abroad, we had better make sure that power is ready to be used.

Missile defense is inappropriate; focus on terrorism

We definitely must find funding for defense, which means somebody is going to come up with less money for their own project. I think the best place to start is by diverting money from the planned missile defense system.
I know this sounds almost counterintuitive because a missile defense system is supposed to help us defend against attack by rogue states.

To begin with, I’m not laughing at missile defense, and I never have.
The question isn’t whether or not such a defense can be built. The question is whether it is the right defense for our times. And I believe the answer is, largely, no.
In this age of miniaturization, our real threat is not going to be flying in on a missile. It’s going to be delivered in a van, or a suitcase, or a fire-hydrant-sized canister.

Prepare for bio-terrorism attack

We need to stockpile antibiotics in major population areas and train emergency workers to respond quickly to biological attack. We need to develop and deploy sensors in major cities that will give us early warning that biological devices have been
detonated. Remember, these microbes can take a while to spread, so any warning we have will help to save lives. We need to keep a close eye on former Soviet bio-technicians, offering them jobs where we can and steering them clear of terrorist regimes.
Call your congressman. When private citizens start asking about the Joint Statement on Biological Weapons, politicians will know this is an issue they’d better take seriously.

[We should] prepare for the possibility of attack, to avoid total panic in case an attack does occur. Our adversaries understand that if they are able to blindside us they will be much more likely to succeed in blackmailing us.